Luke's 8th Big Balloon Parade Incidents
The 8th Luke's Big Balloon Parade is one of the most infamous Luke's Parades to date. Not because of the quality of the parade, or rather the list of celebrities, but rather the massive amount of balloons that either got damaged and/or destroyed completely. Below, you will find a list of the incidents that happened in the 8th parade. Masyanya No damage was done to the balloon during the parade route. However, during preparation, two of her right hairs were removed for unknown reasons. Stacy and Bradley No damages were done to the duo at all, but during their march, they were starting to go out of control due to high winds. Wriggle Worm Because of high winds, Wriggle Worm started to go crazy during its march, causing the red ball to be punctures by a tree. SpongeBob SquarePants (balloonicle) Just like Wiggle Worm, the balloonicle started to be taunted by the winds causing his removal from the parade. SpongeBob SquarePants (helium balloon) SpongeBob's balloon started to get violently dangled by the high winds, but it remained udamaged. Unlike the balloonicle, it got to stay in the parade. Higor Due to high winds, Higor was pushed into a tree branch, ripping his stomach. Causing him to be removed from the parade. Tommy and Tallulah No damage was done to Tommy at all and he finished the parade successfully. However, Tallulah suffered damage to her head, causing her head deflating and being removed from the parade. Luke Deronde No damage was done to him. But, high winds almost shoved the balloon into a lamppost. Tianaigbedion Tianaigbedion's tail was damaged overnight, and her left hand was deflated during the route, but the rest of the balloon remained undamaged. Jenny Wakemen Jenny's right ear was damaged during the route due to high winds, but the rest of the balloon was undamaged. Master Macey Master Macey had trouble before his brodcast, when the wind was violently dangling the balloon. It then had it's side cut open by a lamppost, prompting the NYPD to stab the balloon. Due to this he was removed from the pareade. The Pink Panther The Pink Panther's tail was punctured and deflated, but the rest remained in one piece. Tilda Tapz In what has been described as the worst accident in the parade's history, Tilda Tapz hit the same lamppost Number 1 Creator hit twice at Central Park West and 72nd Street, which ended up knocking parts of the light onto the crowd, injuring 4 people, most notably injuring a woman named Kathleen Caronna. The impact of the debris almost killed her, putting her into a month-long coma. The balloon continued with her head deflated, and left the paradebefore her broadcast. Ked the Rabbit No damage was done to it. But her wings were bent out of shape. Aftermath In recent years, new rules have been implemented to prevent incidents from occurring often, if not eliminate the possibility of them altogether. After the "great balloon massacre" of the 8th parade, the giant character balloons would now be attached to two buggies, and were no longer allowed to exceed 78 feet in length, 70 feet in height, or 40 feet in width. This resulted in the larger character balloons being banned from making future appearances, including Tilda Tapz. In 2006, more safety measures were enacted, such as installing wind measurement devices that alert parade organizers to unsafe weather, keeping balloons closer to the ground during windy conditions, and prohibiting balloons from flying during very heavy rainfall or in winds higher than 34 miles per hour.